NONFICTION

Travelling to Work: Diaries 1988–1998

Thomas Dunne: St. Martin's. Nov. 2015. 592p. photos. index. ISBN 9781250077073. $35; ebk. ISBN 9781466888913. TV
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The third volume of published diaries by Monty Python member and renaissance man Palin continues the richly detailed and entertaining record of his life spanning a decade highlighted by successful travel documentaries, film and television acting, the writing of his first novel, and such life-altering events as the deaths of his mother and of founding Python member Graham Chapman. During these years he is "fundamentally wary" but "drawn to risk like a moth to a flame," as he states in his introduction, describing his personality as constantly attracted to doing something he has never done before. Along with portrayals of his work, Palin expresses self-doubts and performs self-examination, and his diaries offer novelistic detail on topics ranging from landscapes and food to people and current events, recounting life's progressions, diversions, and observations.
VERDICT The continuing chronicles of Palin will be of interest to Python and Palin fans, Anglophiles, and anyone who has interest in the cultural world of the 1990s, as they provide delightful reading and time well spent with a fascinating and perceptive man.
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